Weaving a Moral Ecology

Weaving a Moral Ecology
The Story of Ayouba
J. Tedrowe Bonner
© Rubicon Seven, LLC 2011
Thou
Shalt
Or
Thou
Shalt Not
Deontology
Relational
Ethics
Rules Based
Caring
Absolutism
Developmental
Duty
Engagement/Practice
Impartialism
Culture
Universalism
Proximate
Three Spheres of Relational Ethics
Individual
Group
System
• Morality: Embedded beliefs and behavior regarding what is
perceived to be right and wrong.
• Ethics: The study & practice of what we believe to be moral.
• Principles: Statements of purpose derived from the object of
study.
Principles of Permaculture
1. Everything has needs and products.
2. The time it takes for a resource to go through the system is more
important than the quantity of the resource.
3. Stacking Function: At least three reasons for doing anything.
4. Redundancy: Every essential function is carried out in at least two
ways.
5. A “problem” is the solution.
6. Undergo the least change for the greatest effect.
7. Find a suitable site and concentrate resources.
8. The only limit to yield is our minds.
The Doe Administration
• International
Accusations of
human rights
abuses and fraud.
• Documented killing
of people in the Gio
and Mano ethnic
groups.
• Sharp drop in the
standard of living.
• Severe ethnic
conflict.
The Taylor Administration
• 250,000 killed in civil wars.
• Ethnic cleansing and murder
of the Kran and Mandingo.
• Charles Taylor indicted on
war crimes.
• 80% living below poverty
line.
Source: Carolyn Cole. 2003.
Liberia: Dubious Global Rankings Today
3rd. Foreign aid as a percentage of GNI.
3rd. Adolescent birth rate (ages 15-19).
3rd. Intestinal diseases death rate.
3rd. Lowest GDP.
4th. Infant mortality rate.
Shifting Frameworks
Everyday
Ghandis
Lorma
Lorma
See: Bennett, J. G.: Elementary Systematics.
Mandingo
Mandingo
Ethical Care
“[Caring] is that
condition toward which
we long and strive, and
it is our longing for
caring that provides us
the motivation for us to
be moral”
- Nell Noddings
See: Noddings, Nell. 1986. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Special Thanks To: Ayouba M. Kamara
Selected References
Bennett, J. G. 1990. Enneagram Studies. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc.
—. 1993. Elementary Systematics. Santa Fe, NM: Bennett Books.
Held, Virginia. 2005. The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global: Oxford.
Holmgren, David. 2009. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Hepburn, Victoria. Australia:
Holmgren Design Services.
Hume, David. 1993. An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Edited by E. Steinberg: Hackett Press.
Noddings, Nell. 1986. Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Slote, Michael A. 2007. The Ethics of Care and Empathy. London ; New York: Routledge.
—. 2010. Moral Sentimentalism. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Development Triad
Function
Purposeful
Life
Being
Will
Regenerating System
Inspirited Connection
-Regenerative
Living Systems
Understanding
-Restorative
Whole System
Pattern Thinking
More Resources Required
Less Resources Required
Weakens Life
Strengthens Life
-Sustaining / Conservation
Technologies /
Techniques
-Conservation
-High Performance
-Green
Fragmented
Thinking
-Conventional Practice
Degenerating System
Developmental Evolution
Adapted from the work of Bill Reed, Regenesis 2006
Elemental Mind